New York Supreme Court Judge James Burke Wednesday sentenced 23 years in prison to film producer Harvey Weinstein, whose case triggered the "Me Too" movement and the fight against silence in sexual assault.
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On Feb. 24, the 67-year-old man was convicted of sexual assault on his former assistant in 2006 and third-degree rape on actress Jessica Mann in 2013.
Nevertheless, Burke's verdict acquitted Weinstein of the crime of predatory sexual assault, which could have led him to life imprisonment.
He also got rid of charges for the first-degree rape of Jessica Mann and the rape of actress Annabella Sciorra, which would have happened almost 30 years ago.
"I am confused by all this ... it is a feeling for thousands of men and women who are losing legal guarantees, I am worried about this country," Weinstein murmured before Judge Burke handed down the sentence.
During the hearing, Assistant District Attorney Joan Illuzzi did not raise a specific number of years of jail in her petition for conviction but she requested the maximum possible for Weinstein's behavior, which lasted for more than four decades, and for his "absolute absence of regrets," as reported by La Vanguardia.
The lead prosecutor recalled that the former filmmaker is "a sex addict and an anger addict", a person who "would never have been detained from harming more lives" if his victims had not publicly denounced him.